Jonathan Ruffin has been asked the question plenty of times by fans who watch him kick successfully for the University of Cincinnati on Saturday and then watch Neil Rackers struggle at the same job for the Bengals on Sunday.

        Why, those fans want to know, can UC develop a consistent kicker when the Bengals can't?

        “I've had people tell me that all the time,” Ruffin said. “I don't go for that. That's a whole different level. I wouldn't like to be in his shoes right now. I guarantee you, if you brought him out here and let him kick with me, he would look 10 times better than me. He's got a huge leg.”

        Ruffin and UC punter Adam Wulfeck met Rackers a few weeks ago in a Covington restaurant. Ruffin says he sympathizes with Rackers, who became a target of criticism when he missed seven of his first 14 field goal attempts this season. Although he made two against Jacksonville two weeks ago, including a 52-yarder, the Bengals didn't allow him to try one Sunday despite three opportunities from fewer than 50 yards out.

        “I can miss five kicks in a game, and I'm still going to play,” Ruffin said. “He can miss one kick, and he could be gone and no longer be making any money. I couldn't imagine being in his situation.”

        He should probably begin trying to visualize it, though, because Ruffin, a junior from Metairie, La., probably will get a shot at the NFL after he graduates from UC. Last season, he received the Lou Groza Award as the nation's top kicker after he made 26 of 29 field goal attempts, including 12 straight over a five-game span.

        “When we put him out there from 45 in, he's just about money in the bank,” said UC coach Rick Minter.

        Ruffin hasn't had as many opportunities this year, but still has put together a solid season. He leads the Bearcats in scoring with 54 points and has made nine of 13 field goal attempts. One of his misses was a 52-yard attempt in the closing seconds of the Bearcats' two-point loss to East Carolina on Nov.10.

        But Ruffin hasn't always been so efficient, which is why he understands what Rackers has been going through. Although his livelihood didn't depend on it, he had similar problems during his freshman year at UC when he missed seven of 12 field goal attempts.

        At the time, he didn't understand what was wrong. But he does now. Ruffin attended a small, private high school in Louisiana where there wasn't much pressure on the kicker. When he arrived at UC, he discovered the stakes were much higher.

        “I wasn't used to the pressure,” Ruffin said. “I never felt that in high school. I guess it just kind of got to me. Now it wasn't only me caring if I make it, it's the media, fans, other coaches. I just wasn't used to that. I knew what to expect when I came into my sophomore year.”

        Ruffin was one of the biggest kids in his class and therefore played defensive end and offensive guard on his grade school team.

        He enjoyed the contact, but from the time he was 10 years old, he wanted to be a kicker. He idolized Morten Andersen, then the New Orleans Saints' kicker, and watched him every Sunday to see how he did it. Then Ruffin would take what he learned and repair to his backyard to practice.

        “We had this courtyard and had a big tree about the width of a goalpost,” Ruffin said. “I knew if I hit the tree, it was good. I'd do that every night. There was an old lady who lived next door to us who always thought I was going to break her window. I never did.”

        Before long, he was telling his mother not to worry about saving money for college because he would earn a scholarship for his kicking.

        He didn't make any such predictions about playing in the NFL, but that could be on the horizon, too. Who knows? If Rackers continues to struggle, Ruffin might even end up kicking for the Bengals in a few years.

Hartong was a kicking pioneer NFL could be next for Ruffin Hoping to get right vs. Wright

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